Seventeen NI firms in Iraq on Investment Prospects

Representatives from 17 Northern Ireland companies are in the Iraqi region of Kurdistan on a trade mission.

The trip has been organised by Invest NI and the firms will be meeting potential customers and community leaders.

Kurdistan is a semi-autonomous oil rich region in northern Iraq.

Among those companies taking part are security firms, architects, engineers and a delegate from Belfast Metropolitan College (BMC).

Maura Lavery from BMC said the college is hoping to attract international students.

"It gave us opportunities to attract students to come and do particular courses," she said.

"We were attracted by the fact that we could offer some training for staff out in Iraq, under the 'train the trainer' programme, in specific areas where they need expertise."

A delegation from the region have already been in Belfast to pitch their case.
Building relationships

Representatives from 17 local companies have made the journey to the city of Erbil for meetings with chambers of commerce, contractors and educational institutions.

Noel Johnston from Invest NI's Asia trade team said the trip is about building relationships.

"The early indications are that some of the firms will do business," he said.

"This is only our first visit out but I expect to come home with some orders from the mission."

Work is ongoing to rebuild the infrastructure in Kurdistan.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-12145514
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The 41 Places to Go in 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
By THE NEW YORK TIMES, The New York Times


Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11010/1116918-37.stm#ixzz1Ac1uNcUh

34. Iraqi KurdistanSafety, history and a warm welcome in a stable corner of Iraq.

As United States forces withdraw from Iraq, a handful of intrepid travel companies are offering trips to the semiautonomous Kurdish region in the north, which has enjoyed relative safety and stability in recent years.

Geographic Expeditions is conducting a 21-day tour to Kurdistan and Eastern Turkey, about half of it spent exploring Kurdistan along the Hamilton Road, which connects strategic gorges, and the other half devoted to the Anatolia region of Turkey. Distant Horizons has been taking small groups of Americans to Kurdistan twice a year since 2008, has a trip this spring, The Changing Face of Iraqi Kurdistan, which will explore Erbil, Dohuk and Sulaimaniyah. And last April, after a 20-year break, Lufthansa resumed service from Frankfurt to Erbil, the Kurdish capital and fourth-largest city in Iraq.

While the State Department continues to warn American tourists to avoid Iraq entirely, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office says the Kurdistan region is an exception. "The risk of terrorism in the Kurdistan Regional Government-controlled provinces of Dohuk, Erbil and Sulaimaniyah is markedly and statistically lower than in other parts of Iraq," states its Web site.

Visitors can tour significant cultural landmarks like Erbil's citadel, which dates to the Assyrian empire, and the site of the Battle of Gaugamela, which ended in the defeat of the Persian king Darius III by Alexander the Great and led to the fall of the Achaemenid Empire. The biggest lure is the opportunity for authentic cultural encounters. "Authenticity is something that can be lost so quickly as development occurs," said Janet Moore, of Distant Horizons. -- MICHELLE HIGGINS



Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11010/1116918-37.stm#ixzz1Ac1dPtZ6